T-Mobile has announced the HTC One S, the first in a new flagship line of smartphones from HTC that could inspire envy even in the most die-hard of iPhone fans. The One S measures just 7.95mm (0.31 inches) thick. Despite that slim design, the One S packs in fast HSPA+ 42 data speeds and a 4.3-inch qHD (960-by-540-pixel) Super AMOLED display.

In a product briefing ahead of the announcement, T-Mobile senior product manager Desmond Smith told PCMag that the phone will run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) out of the box, which is very welcome news. In addition, the HTC One S will feature HTC Sense 4.0, a new, lighter version of the company's venerable UI overlay and sync service that's designed to integrate with the feature and security benefits of Ice Cream Sandwich. For example, HTC Sense 4.0 works tightly with the new menus and supports Face Lock, among other things. In addition, HTC Sense 4.0 improves on Android's Microsoft Exchange integration by adding a new task sync feature.

Aside from the thin design and Android 4.0 OS, the camera may be the HTC One S's best feature. It sports an 8-megapixel sensor with an f-stop of 2.0 for improved low light performance, plus a dedicated image processing chip to aid with image stabilization and speed up image capture. It also promises 1080p high-definition video recording at a blistering 60 frames per second, and includes a slow-mo playback mode to highlight important moments during sporting events or your kid's birthday party.

On the music side, the HTC One S comes preloaded with Google Music, plus the latest version of Beats Audio, which integrates with every sound the HTC One S produces—even while gaming or watching movies. Expect heavy emphasis on bass response and vocal reproduction, as is typical for Beats Audio products, along with an appropriately beefy sounding set of earphones.

Under the hood, we don't know a whole lot yet, other than that a fast 1.5GHz, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor will be running the proceedings.

There's no firm price or release date as of now, although Smith told us we can expect the phone sometime during the Spring, and at a price that's "in line with other T-Mobile smartphones." Stay tuned.

Jamie Lendino is the managing editor of ExtremeTech.com, and has written for PCMag.com and the print magazine since 2005. Recently, Jamie ran the consumer electronics and mobile teams at PCMag, and before that, he was the Editor In Chief of Smart Device Central, PCMag's dedicated smartphone site, for its entire three-year run from 2006 to 2009. Prior to PCMag, he was a contributing editor for Laptop and mediabistro.com. His writing has also appeared in the print editions of Popular Science, Electronic Musician, and Sound and...
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